Stand up to Sadtu now to protect our children’s education
13 September 2015
The decision by the Department of Basic Education to cave in to the threats of teacher union Sadtu and postpone the writing of the Annual National Assessment (ANAs) begs the question: who is currently in charge of our country’s education system?
It is completely unacceptable that Sadtu is allowed to get away with compromising the education of our children and therefore their future opportunities for a better life. The fact that the ANAs have now been postponed is yet another example of Sadtu being allowed to act against the interests of our children with impunity.
It is important to recognise that Sadtu officials are elected through a highly political process - they are not appointed because of their educational expertise.
Sadtu has in the past blocked the introduction of performance contracts for school principals, essentially stonewalling any attempt to hold principals to account on poor performance. Now the union has succeeded in postponing one of the only tools we have to assess literacy and numeracy of our children and in the process, any interventions aimed at improving the quality of education.
Sadtu also appears to have a strangle hold on the appointment of teachers and principals, preferring to appoint those who can pay or who have political influence rather than those who are adequately qualified and have experience.
It is high time that the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, draws a line in the sand and shows Sadtu that they may not hold education or the futures of children hostage.
The importance of the ANAs must be recognised. Our education system is mired in crisis, with only half of our children able to read properly by the end of Grade 3, and only 3% of our children being appropriately numerate by the end of Grade 9.
It is essential that we test literacy and numeracy every single year and that interventions are aggressively implemented, informed by the results of the tests. We cannot afford to be testing any less regularly than annually as long as our education system is performing so poorly.
The Minister cannot implement evidence-based interventions without regular testing to establish where these interventions are required. She can solve every problem currently experienced with the ANAs by implementing the Western Cape model of independent testing, and we call on her to just this, in urgent consultation with education experts, not unions.
Unions cannot be allowed to compromise the futures of our children any longer. We call on every South African who sees education compromised as a result of Sadtu's selfish pursuit of political goals, and refusal to be held accountable, to stand up and fight against their blatant abuse of our children. Every South African must send a strong message to Sadtu that our children are not political pawns. Enough is enough!
Statement issued by Annette Lovemore, DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education, September 13 2015
